As a young Black girl I recall feeling a mixture of discomfort and pride at the start of February. February marked Black History Month and it was a time when teachers would try to rally and cajole their Black students to participate in assemblies and presentations. Some students felt these events were unnecessary—the same opportunities weren’t afforded them to celebrate their cultural heritage year-round as part of the school’s curriculum. Some of us felt that our cultures were not readily embraced during every other month of the year.

I’ve cried a lot this Advent. Watching video clips of Syrian refugees arriving in the Toronto airport gets me every time. (Watch this one from Vancouver. I dare you to stay dry-eyed.) I watch them with awe; I still can’t quite believe that Canada has done such a 180 degree turn and chosen to welcome more than 25,000 of these beautiful children of God.

"The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have abundant life." (John 10:10)

Porn steals, kills, and destroys on so many levels. It dishonors, disrespects, devalues, dehumanizes, demeans, and degrades human life. We have reclassed someone who is made in the image of God to being a “virtual pixelized prostitute.”

While the scientific and policy issues raised in the encyclical will get the most press attention, Francis is primarily doing theology. He emphasizes repeatedly that non-human creatures are not here only to serve us.

The other day I was eating dinner with my wife in a restaurant located in Gallup, New Mexico, a border town to the Navajo reservation. Gallup was recently named "Most Patriotic Small Town in America" in a nationwide contest. Soon after sitting down I noticed that we were seated at a table directly facing a framed poster of the Declaration of Independence.

Here is my experience of first day of kindergarten with my son Antonio. We are very close to each other. I wondered how the first day of school would be for him and how I would be. Well, this is how it went. Antonio was excited and cooperative the very first day of school. I was cautiously optimistic. The second day of school however was a complete 180. He had some verbal protests in the morning as he was getting ready but I didn’t want to inflame it all by opposing him directly and escalating his protests.

Although it is sad to say, the truth is that Aboriginal education in Canada is stuck. It cannot move forward with much-needed reform. The issues needing reform are many--there are significant inequities between funding given to on-reserve Aboriginal schools and off-reserve schools. Less than half of First Nations people graduate high school, compared to almost 90% of non-Aboriginal people in Canada.

It’s a cold, dark Sunday evening, and I’m at the drugstore. The only other customer in the store is at the checkout, taking a long time. She’s fumbling with her money, her bags, getting herself organized. She has the look of someone who is less-than-fortunate (and really, who would be riding a bike on such a night if they had any other option?).